Hindu Rashtra: Saffron terror's hall of shame

Malegaon blast was just a small part of Abhinav Bharat's diabolical plan. Read comments

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Krishna Kumar

New Delhi

July 18, 2010

UPDATED: July 19, 2010 08:05 IST

Hundreds of activists of the saffron brigade attacked the Headlines Today office building in New Delhi after the channel exposed about their functionaries' terror links.

"What happened in Hyderabad's [Mecca] Masjid and what is happening in other mosques hasn't been done by the ISI. It was our people who were involved."

Titled Major Upadhaya. wma, this audio file in Malegaon blast suspect (and self-styled Shankaracharya) Dayanand Pande's laptop shows why the CBI, which is patting itself on the back for cracking the Ajmer Sharif dargah and Mecca Masjid 2007 blasts, should have solved these cases last year. In the recording, Major Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd.) is heard planning out the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six and injured over 70.

Other recordings recovered from Pande's laptop reveal that the blast was just a small part of the terror outfit Abhinav Bharat's diabolical gameplan. The radical organisation was even in talks with groups based in Nepal and Israel to achieve its stated goal of establishing a 'pure' Hindu Rashtra. This, as well as the other sinister designs of the Hindutva terror brigade, are stored in recordings on Pande's laptop, which was recovered by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) led by Hemant Karkare in 2008.

Another recording has Delhi Hindu Mahasabha chief Ayodhya Prasad Tripathi talking about his links with an anti-Islamic group based in the UK. "We are in regular touch with Stephen Gaus in England. He is a dreaded anti-communist and anti-Islamic. His units are growing rapidly in France, Germany, England and America," Tripathi is heard saying. In yet another recording, Malegaon blast 'mastermind' Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit talks about contacting King Gyanendra of Nepal for the training and shelter of the Abhinav Bharat men.

Then, Pande mentions using the services of a British woman who works as a secretary in the United Nations to get the 'Hindu Government in exile' registered in the UN. Purohit, a Military Intelligence man, is heard talking about starting a military school in every state, where recruits would be given rifle training during the summer.

He tells an as-yet unidentified man that the school could be used to hide people in case of "any police action". The colonel goes on to say that the Sangh's name should not be linked in any way to the schools. "We have to assume such a name that is deceptive. We will work under the name 'Bastion Guards.'

There is nothing related to the Sangh. The saffron flag is also not there," he says on tape. In another conversation, Purohit admits that the blasts (Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif) had been carried out by people he knew. The transcripts show not just how dangerous the men were but also why the investigations should have been taken over by central intelligence agencies immediately. "Listen to the tapes and you'll understand why these men should be charged with sedition and waging war against the state," said a former Maharashtra ATS officer involved in the investigations. The officer added that what the CBI is claiming as its findings had come to light during ATS investigations in 2008 itself. ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 attacks, was under tremendous pressure not to dig deep into the Malegaon case. "Both the opposition and some ministers in the state government were not happy with Karkare's investigations.

A senior state cabinet minister in the Congress-NCP government known for his opposition to dance bars had blasted Karkare for the investigations just a week before his death," said a source. The involvement of politicians and army officers in the Abhinav Bharat operations is perhaps why Karkare was pulled up. A witness in the Malegaon case said that a 'Colonel Dhar' (later identified as Lt Col Bappaditya Dhar) was present in an Abhinav Bharat meeting. Purohit had also named several officers.

"There are many respected men who are not there today," Purohit is learnt to have said, adding, "There is a Col Raikar, Col Shailesh Raikar, a Major Nitin Joshi, and a Col Hasmukh Patel." The ATS is learnt to have interrogated Raikar and Dhar extensively but could not move against them as it did not have a watertight case. But it says that the Army should have stepped in and conducted an inquiry. The transcripts show how the ATS was hampered because of the large number of suspects spread across different states. As an ATS officer puts it, it would be a mistake to treat the Malegaon case as an aberration. The inter-linkages between the prime suspects in the terror attacks have shown that the ATS officer, indeed, is right.

Why then was the CBI sleeping over the information Karkare had recovered before attaining martyrdom on 26/11?

1. Indresh Kumar, RSS

Linked to the blasts accused probed for: Close links with Sunil Joshi and Devender Gupta

RSS national executive member and close associate of Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak, ' Indreshji' is one of the Sangh Parivar's main strategists. He is alleged to have been the major force behind communalising the Amarnath agitation in 2008 and also mobilising the Madhesis in Nepal against the Maoists. He launched the Muslim Ekta Manch to rally together ' nationalist' Muslims.

Investigating agencies are examining his links with Devendra Gupta, key accused in the 2007 Ajmer Sharif bombing. Also being probed are his ties with Sunil Joshi, suspected to be the bomber behind the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts.

The main suspect in the 2007 blasts, this RSS pracharak was a friend of Malegaon accused Pragya Thakur and also faced the charge of murdering a local Congress leader. He was close to Swami Aseemanand, who had warned him of the imminent threat to his life post the blasts. Joshi had said to his friends that his mentor was Indresh Kumar. Investigating agencies are probing Joshi's hand in the Amritsar- Lahore Samjhauta Express blasts in February 2007.

Born Sudhakar Udaybhan Dwivedi, he has taken on many names. He started life as Swami Amrutnand Devtirth and then took on the more pious- sounding title of Shankaracharya and settled in Kashmir.

All the terror meetings were held in his presence and all the accused addressed him as ' swamiji'. His habit of recording all meetings and saving them on his laptop proved to be his undoing. The recordings are being used as evidence against him and his cohorts. Apart from these audio and video clips, cops have also found a cache of obscene pictures and clips that he had downloaded from the Net.

Upadhyaya retired from the Army in 1988 and was the chief of the BJP's ex-servicemen's cell in Mumbai. The Maharashtra ATS claims he was a mere 'member' of the organisation, but from the tapes recovered from Pande it seems he was present in all meetings where the Malegaon bombing was planned. He used to interact at length with both Purohit and Pande. For all his talk of a 'pure' Hindu Rashtra, Upadhyaya had been arrested twice for stalking, threatening and posting indecent remarks about a woman whom he wanted to marry.

6. Pragya Thakur

Sannyasin with an unholy obsession with bloodshed accused of: September 2008 Malegaon blast

L.K. Advani might have defended her by claiming that she was a sadhvi but there was nothing holy about Pragya's thoughts and actions. Advani's claim was torn to shreds by the ATS, whose recorded telephone intercepts reveal how Pragya was disappointed when she heard that "just three people" had been killed in the Malegaon. Her involvement in Abhinav Bharat's activities may not have been much, but she is suspected to have procured the explosives for the Malegaon blast. She didn't get along with Purohit as both claimed to be leaders of the 'Hindu Rashtra' movement.

7.Shrikant P Purohit, Lt Col, military intelligence arms procurer;

Gun-runner on the side accused of: September 2008 Malegaon blast

A fitness fanatic who knows four languages, the former Military Intelligence officer is said to be the brain behind the operation. The ATS believes Purohit had procured weapons and even RDX from an Army depot. Ironically, the man who wore Army colours is heard declaring in the Pande tapes that he doesn't believe in the Constitution. The ATS says he knows about the other blasts and the people who carried them out, but he refuses to talk. Purohit was not averse to making money on the side. He was into gun-running as well.

8.Swami Aseemanand

Mastermind nd good friend of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi

The ATS does not list him as an accused, but he's very much under the scanner. The Kolkata native, known as Jatin Chatterjee before he donned his ochre robes, came to the Dangs district of Gujarat for a campaign to bring Christian converts back into the Hindu fold. A respected leader of the RSS, Aseemanand is said to be very close to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, which may be why the ATS has not been able to catch up with him. His interrogation will provide the ATS clues to piece together the Hindutva terror jigsaw.

Very little is known about these shadowy characters except that they're both from Indore and are suspected to be the bombers in the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts. They've eluded the CBI, which has declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh on each of them. Dange is also known as Parmanand; Kalsangra's aliases are Ramji or Vishnu Patel. Both are around 35 years old and suspected to be major players in the Hindutva terror network.

10.Ashok Varshney and Ashok Berry, RSS

Linked to blasts accused of: Providing assistance to Devendra Gupta

The two are being investigated by CBI for their alleged role in the Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid blasts. Varshney, a former RSS prant pracharak in Jharkhand, had allegedly sourced and handed over two SIM cards to Devendra Gupta, a key accused in the Ajmer Sharif bombing. These cards were allegedly used to stage the May 18, 2007, Mecca Masjid blast. The ATS's of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and the CBI have grilled both Varshney and Berry, an RSS central committee member, many times since June 21 both in Lucknow and Delhi. Both Varshney and Berry had acknowledged their association with Gupta. Before his arrest on April 30, Gupta had stayed at Varshney's Kanpur home.

11. B.L. Sharma 'Prem', BJP

Planning big on the mass conversions of muslims accused of: One of Abhinav Bharat's founders. Close to Pandey and Purohit

Also known as Prem Singh Sher after he embraced the Khalsa Panth in 1999, Sharma is a two-time BJP Member of the Lok Sabha. He was first elected from East Delhi in 1991 and then in 1996. He fought the last parliamentary elections in 2009 from Delhi North East, but lost to Jai Prakash Aggarwal. In a video recording accessed by Headlines Today, he is seen in discussions with Pandey and Purohit on starting a terror movement against Muslims. The meeting is believed to have taken place at a Nashik temple in 2007.

12.Rakesh Dhawade and Sharad Kunte

Linked with bomb making accused of: Dhawade, of imparting bomb training. He accuses Kunte of being engaged in the same task

A research fellow at the Institute of Research and Development in Oriental Studies (IRDOS), Pune, Dhawade has been charged by the Maharashtra ATS with "imparting training and exploding a bomb in Parbhani and Jalna". Dhawade is said to be a 'weapons collector' because of his vast collection of antique arms. In a statement recorded before a magistrate, Dhawade has named Sharad Kunte, a Pune professor who teaches at the Narsooji Wadia College, as the man who taught students to make bombs. Kunte was the VHP's Pune unit president for many years. He has been questioned by the ATS, but not booked.

The Indore resident, who is among the 14 who have been charged with the murder of a local Congress leader in August 2003, was picked up by the Rajasthan ATS from the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh on May 14. The ATS got wind of him after it had questioned the Ajmer blast accused, Devendra Gupta and Chandrashekhar Borad, who had been arrested on April 29. Sunil Joshi, deceased suspected bomber, was also one of the accused in the Congress leader's murder. Sharma is out on bail in the case. The common link that binds all of them is their loyalty to the fiery sadhvi, Pragya Thakur.

United to divide BharatThe key people who were prepared to go to any length to wreck India for their dream to establish a Hindu Rashtra.